Back in the 1990s, the mountain bike trails at Deer Valley used to be state-of-the-art. But the years went by with little to no improvements. Meanwhile, mountain bike technology went through the roof. Fast forward to the present, and competing Utah resorts like Canyons stepped up with modern bike parks. Well, those days of being irrelevant are over at Deer Valley with the opening of Tidal Wave.
Huge banked corners, table-top jumps, and endless flow are what you can expect if you point your front tire down Tidal Wave. It may sound like a technical, experts-only type gig, but it’s actually geared toward intermediate riders. Progression is the idea. If you’re not much of a jumper, the tables on this wide-open trail allow you to start small and work your way up as you gain skills and confidence. But the tables also mean you don’t have to jump at all. You can also choose to keep your tires on the ground and enjoy the roller coaster ride.
According to Deer Valley, the creation of Tidal Wave was years in the making. They saw a need for more modern trail-work at the resort and hired Gravity Logic, a Canadian-based consulting company, to deliver a master plan for trail upgrades and new trail creation. Resort management liked what they saw and decided on a “course of improvements that would help with the trail system’s most pressing needs.” The first result is Tidal Wave.
The project began in May of 2015. Gravity Logic came to Deer Valley for two weeks and planned out the course for Tidal Wave. Trail builders broke ground on June 1st and opened the first section on the upper mountain on June 19th. By early September, the entire length of Tidal Wave was completed, just before Deer Valley shut down summer operations. But fall mountain biking in Park City is unreal, and you can easily get to the top of Tidal Wave by starting at the Mid Mountain Trail, then riding up Tour de Suds or Team Big Bear to Flagstaff. From the top of the Flagstaff Loop, pedal up the dirt road to the top of Bald Mountain where Tidal Wave begins.
I first experienced Tidal Wave a few weeks after the lifts closed. Although intimidated at first by the huge, bermed corners and large table jumps, I soon discovered that you don’t have to be an expert downhiller to enjoy this trail. No matter how fast you go, the trail is still fun and allows you to progress as you go. I’m much more of an old-school, steep, rocky singletrack type of mountain biker with very little experience with “new-school” trails. But after getting over my fear of taking jumps at high speed, I experienced one of the most fun times I’ve ever had on a bike.
Right now is a good time to be a mountain biker in Utah, as the future is very bright. Deer Valley says Tidal Wave is only the “first step” in a resort-wide transformation that will change the way we mountain bike in Park City. Already, they are looking at building a green-style flow trail appropriate for beginners to add even more progression opportunities at the resort. So get up to Deer Valley right now and ride “the wave.”